Paintball 101 – What You Need To Know!
By By Jeffrey Jones

Paintball is a game played up of many players or teams. It can be played indoors or out, with as few as two people or as many as 500. is played at designated fields, back yards or even in the woods. A game can last as little as 5 minutes or hours with all depending on one to take something, find something, or to just be the last person not marked.

Depending on the location of where you play, the strategy of your game will vary from being quiet and sneaky and choosing your shots carefully, to being loud, fast, and shooting constantly. is a competitive sport played like any other competitive sport, to win. It is challenging game of tag, hide-and-seek or even capture-the-flag. Being you shoot at other people and they shoot at you, requires safety equipment to be worn such as goggles, special clothing and etc.

An essential part of is the itself. As in tennis, the ball is the main element of a game. But unlike a tennis game, has dozens, often hundreds, of "balls" in play at any one time. As the name implies, these balls are actually tiny containers of paint.

Paintballs have a really simple construction. They're actually a lot like bath-oil beads. They are made of colored liquid enclosed in a gelatin shell and are available in a variety of colors. are also non-toxic, biodegradable and are water soluble.

Basically,

a is like a small water balloon, weighing only a few grams. The shell holds up if you handle it or drop it from a short distance. When you shoot a from a gun, however, it bursts on impact and leaves large splatter of paint.

The job of the gun, or as many call a marker, is to shoot the at a high rate of speed. In a standard gun, the propulsion system is compressed gas such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen or ordinary air and is stored in small or large tanks that can be attached to the gun. The gun is also attached to a hopper, which holds the paintballs. Maintaining safety in is important to make the game safe. The power of guns is strictly regulated. Guns in play are adjusted so that the maximum speed of the is 300 feet per second. A traveling at this speed is not likely to cause serious injury if it hits you, though it will sting and can leave a bruise. Also, since wind resistance starts slowing the down as soon as it leaves the gun, it has a reduced impact when fired from a greater distance. Speeding paintballs can cause serious injury to the eyes and players always wear protection.

In addition to playing for recreational use, is also part of military and police training. In terms of feel and handling, a gun has little in common with an actual firearm, but is still good training for combat situations. Mainly, it lets soldiers and police practice strategy and the fine art of not getting shot.

There are many leagues around with American League being one of the largest in the industry. Another league is the National Professional League. There are the two main leagues. Though they both pertain to paintball, each has their own set of rules for playing the sport.

Jeffrey Jones writes about and guns. See http://www.paintballemporium.com for more information.